Created in 2011 and endowed with 8,000 euros, the « ICRC Humanitarian Visa d’or Award » is awarded each year to a professional photojournalist who has covered a humanitarian issue related to an armed conflict. The theme of this year’s photo contest is urban war and the consequences for people forced to hide or flee. Candidates for the 2018 edition of the Visa d’Or Humanitaire can send their work until June 11, 2018.

In the last two decades, there has been a dramatic rise of lethal autonomous weapons due to new developments in technology, computing, and military operational demands. Because autonomous weapons systems are already in use today, the ultimate question about their capabilities is not a technical one, rather legal and ethical one.

An incident of violence against health-care facilities or personnel has taken place every single week since the passage two years ago of a U.N. Security Council Resolution meant to increase respect for the sanctity of health care.

Alexandre Faite, a Belgian who's been in charge of the International Committee of the Red Cross operations in Yemen for the past two years of its intractable conflict, that has included not only war injuries but massive hunger and a cholera epidemic that infected a million people, tells The World's Marco Werman, that despite all of this, he's sad to be leaving Yemen. Listen to the full interview below.

We're excited to announce that our work in digital communications has been recognized in the 22nd Annual Webby Awards. The Webby Awards are a big deal in the arts and entertainment world, and just being nominated is an honor! Here's how to vote.

March 8th is International Women's Day, a day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the globe. (We over here at Intercross personally feel we should do this every single day, but there you are.) So just for our listeners, we've rounded up all of our podcast interviews that feature the incredible work and challenges facing women humanitarians, lawyers and otherwise brillant minds. From Juba, South Sudan to Boston, Massachusetts, cheers to the fabulous women we've had the priviledge of speaking to over the past year+!

On Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) unveiled “Enter the Room” – an augmented reality experience for iOS app users. The app was designed by the digital innovation agency Nedd using Apple ARKit technology and is free to download from the App Store.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we sit down with ICRC’s Jess Markt, an American who coaches wheelchair basketball in war zones. At age 19, he suffered a spinal cord injury in college. Twenty one years later, he is bringing his experience and story to help others as ICRC’s first-ever Disability, Sport and Inclusion Advisor. In this conversation, we discuss his personal triumph over adversity and how he brings that experience to the disabled in some of the world’s most dangerous contexts. From Afghanistan to South Sudan and Cambodia, Jess is using sport to help the disabled see themselves in a different light, and witnessing some radical societal transformations along the way. We talk about diversity, what that term really means, and how he’s using his role at ICRC to change the way that people, and humanitarian organizations, think about what it means to fully integrate diversity into their work. Hosted by Anna Nelson and Sara Owens.

In more than 80 countries, ICRC works in some of the most remote and war-torn countries in the world, working to help the most vulnerable populations affected by conflict. Our colleagues over in Geneva put together a beautiful and heartbreaking photo gallery from some of the contexts in which we work. From Afghanistan and Niger to Honduras and Myanmar, check out ICRC.orgfor the ten photos that moved us in 2017.

Amidst some of the harshest conflicts on earth, we assist with the basics of life: food, water and shelter. Often first on the ground and the last to leave, neutral, impartial and independent, we are the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Check out the latest video from the ICRC. And find out more about our work here.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we are joined by Martin Lacourt, ICRC in Washington’s Senior Armed Forces Delegate, and Koby Langley, Senior Vice President, Service to the Armed Forces and International Humanitarian Law for the American Red Cross. They discuss the work the Red Cross—both ICRC and National societies—does with military both domestically and globally. The American Red Cross has served more than 1 million military families since 9/11 including members of the military, veterans and their families prepare for, cope with, and respond to, the challenges of military service. ICRC works to bridge the cultural divide between arms bearers and humanitarians through trainings and IHL dissemination. What are the different ways ICRC and national societies approach this work? What are the challenges of engaging with these audiences? How does neutrality play a role? And has the evolving technology of warfare changed the way the Red Cross works and the needs we serve? Hosted by Niki Clark.

The ICRC has launched a new interactive website – missingmigrants.icrc.org – featuring the stories and photos behind the humanitarian tragedies of those who go missing along migration routes. Their journeys are long and dangerous; across the Mediterranean, the Maghreb, the Central American corridor. People fleeing violence and scarcity, migrating to stay alive just one more day. These stories are just one part of this global issue: they are the stories of those who left to find a better life, but never arrived. Check out the site here.

Life in the creekside community of Prison Waterfront, in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, can be as difficult as its name alludes. Here, children grow up amid a tangle of shanty homes with little to no access to basic human necessities such as clean drinking water and sewage systems. Living among widespread litter, human waste, and nearby oil slicks means living off the land simply isn't an option here. To better understand the livelihoods of its residents, the International Committee of the Red Cross handed out disposable cameras to 26 youngsters in Prison Waterfront, asking them to document their daily lives in an effort to better comprehend their living situations.

Have YOU discovered Intercross the Podcast: Playlists yet? Playlists allow you to listen to all the great episodes of the podcast, but now curated to your preferred topic matter. You can check them all out on Soundcloud, but today we're featuring our Operations Playlist.

On Monday, ICRC-Director General Yves Daccord spoke to CBC's Rosemary Barton on the Power and Politics television broadcast on the global migration crisis. During his conversation, he spoke about the impact of the crisis on humanitarian assistance and needs, the drivers behind the mass movement of people worldwide and how Canada can help. You can watch the full clip below.

How does one learn to cope with the pain and the misery? When does it become acceptable to let their memory fade away? August 30th marks the International Day of the Disappeared. These are the stories of Brazilian families who desperately wait for the return of their missing members. In the following videos, the families talk about their sorrows and also the hope that keeps them looking for their loved ones.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we are joined by American Red Cross's Director of International Communications Jenelle Eli. Hurricane Harvey has dumped the equivalent of Lake Michigan on south and central Texas. What is the situation on the ground? How is the American Red Cross responding? What can you do if you find yourself in an emergency situation? And how can you help? Hosted by Niki Clark.

Six months after launching and nearly 5,200 listens later, we've now got an even easier way for you to enjoy the great content of Intercross the Podcast: Playlists! You can check them all out on Soundcloud, but today we're featuring our Cultural Series Playlist. In our Cultural Series, we explore the intersection of conflict and culture. Whether its the rules of war as found in Shakespeare's literature of George Lucas'sStar Wars, the way we perceive conflict and war is often colored by what we see and read in art, film, television and books.

INTERCROSS

Intercross is the blog of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Washington D.C.. It is a place for timely news, commentary on armed conflict and violence, humanitarian action, and the rules of war.

Intercross was started in 2011 as a blog and morphed into a podcast-only site in December 2018. (We are no longer actively adding blog content to the site, however you can still peruse our archive of rich content from the beginning here.)

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**Intercross, the Podcast disclaimer: Just because something or someone is featured here, doesn't mean we endorse or agree with the institutions they represent. Views expressed on the platforms we may highlight don't necessarily represent those of the ICRC.**